Bucks County, Pennsylvania is where I lived from the time I was nine years
old until I went off to school at Lehigh University, with sporadic sojourns
thereafter. Located north of Philadelphia, it was then, and still is to a
high degree, a semi-rural area, much of it with a distinctly gentrified complexion.
My parents and a number of friends still live there. Recently, Bucks County
got its 15 minutes of fame as the venue of the movie "Signs", starring
Mel Gibson and directed by M. Night Shayamalan (who hails from the Philadelphia
area).

The
area has a rich historic heritage, pre-dating the Revolutionary War. Much
of the local architecture is well over 200 years old. Doylestown, located
in the center of the county, is the county seat.

At the turn of the 20th century it was the home of Henry Mercer (manor and
carriage house pictured here left and right), and eccentric millionaire who
built a large ceramics studio (locally referred to simply as the "tile
works") on his estate, and an enormous museum downtown.

The Tile Works (left) is still a working facility. "Mercer Tiles"
are a valued architectural commodity, and are found not only in Bucks County
buildings, but in homes and buildings throughout the country. They are still
made today in the same manner they were made over 100 years ago.

The Mercer Museum (right) is built entirely of poured concrete and can only
be described as fortress-like. Inside, you will find one of the most eclectic
collections outside of the Smithsonian. Henry Mercer seemed to collect everything
- tools, clothes, boats, weapons, indian artifacts, wagons, ceramics, minerals
- sometimes displayed in what seems to be a random arrangement. If you make
it to the top floors, you will even find, in one large side room, a collection
of gallows trap door mechanisms.

Across
the street from the Mercer Museum is the James A. Mitchener Arts Center (James
Mitchener, Pearl Buck and Margaret Mead were also local residents). This building,
even when I was living in the area, was the local prison (and no, if you must
ask, I never saw the inside when the facility operated as such).

Architecturally,
it would have been indistinguishable from any Old World prison built in the
14th century. I imagine the accommodations were probably almost as comfortable.
Now, the central yard is a sculpture garden, and the interior houses other
works of art. It also houses the public library. So, if your teenagers tell
you they are spending the afternoon in the prison, I wouldn't be too alarmed
by that statement.